Visalia, Calif., (March 16, 2018) – Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner released the current status today of Major crops in the most valued county in the California Ag portfolio. They report that Corn is being planted as weather allows. Winter wheat and oats are enjoying the latest rains. Ground preparation is continuing for spring row crops. Alfalfa fields need more time to fully develop before harvest begins.
Vineyards continue to be pruned and tied. Stone fruit orchards are continuing to bloom. Almond trees are blooming, with some leafing out. Bee colonies continue being moved into almond and stone fruit orchards to help with pollination. Orchards are being monitored for possible damage from the recent freeze to the bloom, but the extent (if any) is as yet unknown. Pomegranate and walnut orchards continue to be pruned. Pistachios are being exported to Germany, Hong Kong, Latvia, Poland, Spain, and Turkey. Almonds are being shipped to Belgium, Cambodia, Colombia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Korea, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, and Sweden.
Navel oranges, Mandarins, and lemons continue to be harvested, but at a slower rate. Late variety navel oranges are showing some grading issues. The extent of freeze damage to citrus fruit is still being determined. Some pruning and skirting of orange groves is still occurring. Navel oranges and Mandarins are being exported to Australia, China, Hong Kong, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. Golden Nugget tangerines and Mandarins are being packed for the domestic market. Seedless tangerine groves continue to be netted in preparation for the coming bloom. Minneola tangelos continue to be shipped to Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands.
Squash and cucumber seedlings continue to grow under hot-caps and hot-tunnels. Greenhouse vegetables continue to be harvested. Strawberry and plantings are progressing well and maturing. Blueberries should begin to bloom late in the week.
Last week’s rain was beneficial, but the rangeland forage is fair condition, As always, more rain is needed. The fed cattle market remained at $130.00 per hundred weight this week.
Retail nurseries are stocked up on both perennial and annual plants for the spring season. Bare-root roses are being received and processed for reshipment out-of-state. Some mature olive trees are being dug for landscape purposes.
Santa Rosa, Calif., (March 15, 2018) – Tristan Benson has joined the Board of Directors for Sonoma County Farm Bureau.
Benson, 34, joins the board as the chair of the Sonoma-Marin Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R), a committee of Sonoma County Farm Bureau for active agriculturists between the ages of 18 and 35 who are involved in production, banking, business, and many other areas of the agriculture industry.
Benson succeeds Andrew Ryan who served on the Sonoma County Farm Bureau Board for the 2016-2017 term. Benson’s term on the Sonoma County Farm Bureau Board will coincide with his one year term as chair of the Young Farmers & Ranchers committee. The YF&R committee chair began serving on the Sonoma County Farm Bureau board last year when Sonoma County Farm Bureau saw an increased need to involve future leaders in the current issues and regulations facing Sonoma County agriculture.
Benson is the foreman of Benson Ranch, a family business that produces plums, Asian pears and grain. Benson produces seed grain with a business partner that gets sold to millers. Benson also considers himself a mechanic, repairing equipment for his custom farming operation and other people.
He feels 4-H and working alongside his parents are the reasons he wants to support all forms of agriculture from raising livestock to small engines to grain production. Benson is passionate about agriculture and wants to see the industry thrive.
“We have some challenges but we have so many opportunities here in Sonoma County,” said Benson. “I think the most important agricultural issue for me is how do we encourage the next generation of farmers and make sure they have the right skills to be successful.”
Sonoma County Farm Bureau currently has 17 board members, with one spot reserved for the chair of the Sonoma-Marin Young Farmers and Ranchers committee. A full list of board members is available at sonomafb.org/directors.
In The Face of Destruction, Austin and Melissa Lely Are Resilient Young Farmers with a Positive Outlook on the Future of Agriculture
Glen Ellen, Calif., (March 15, 2018) – Austin and Melissa Lely met at Chico State in 2010. They graduated as recreation majors and neither had a farming background. After graduating, the married couple moved to Glen Ellen, near where Austin grew up.
Austin, 28, and Melissa, 27, fell in love with food and said their shared interest just spiraled. At the same time, the couple was seeing issues with the local food system, and saw a trend towards consumers seeking healthy food.
Five years ago, they moved to a house in Glen Ellen where they were caretakers of the property and began growing their own food.
“We decided that if we were going to have our own garden, let’s have it big enough for the community and farmers’ markets,” said Melissa.
The couple incorporated as Bee-Well Farms in 2015 and was growing an acre and a half of produce for local farmers’ markets and raising chickens for egg production. They did one farmers’ market the first year and have expanded every year since.
In 2017, they increased from raising 65 chickens to more than 400. Their chickens are raised in mobile coops which essentially make the entire farming operation moveable.
A year and a half ago Melissa left her job at Beltane Ranch where she worked for their Bed and Breakfast and in their organic garden to work full time on Bee-Well Farm. Austin left his 5 year career with Benziger Family Winery, where he originally joined the company as event staff. Eventually Austin advanced to a position in Benziger’s tasting room, then their viticulture and sustainability department before his most recent position as ranch manager. During his time with Benziger, Austin learned a lot through their biodynamic program, skills he is looking forward to applying to Bee-Well.
“This year was going to be the year we dive right in and really grow the farm,” said Austin. “We had planned on growing our egg production to 2,000 laying hens for 2018. We had ordered the 1,600 chicks in July of 2017 and they were supposed to be delivered on October 12, 2017.
“On the night of October 8, around 11:30 p.m. our neighbor woke us up in a panic. He said that there is a fire and everyone needs to leave. We drove to the back of the property to check the cows and the fire was already burning the ranch next to us.
“We did what we could for the cows but there was no fire break between the ranches and the winds were around 60 mph and blowing in our face. There were cops and firefighters telling us to leave now. We went back to our house and grabbed my wife’s wedding ring, important documents, our cash and dog and left Glen Ellen.”
That was right before midnight, and at 7 a.m. on October 9th Austin and Melissa received a call from their landlords that everything was gone, including the house they had lived in the last five years.
By 8 a.m., they were back on the property. They had stopped and picked up a bale of hay from a neighbor, and came back to find that all their animals had survived.
On the right, crews finish cleaning up the debris of the house Austin and Melissa Lely lived in that burned in the October wildfires. On the left is where Austin and Melissa will grow row crops for farmer’s market this spring.
“We lost our house, truck, UTV, hay barn with hay and chicken feed, greenhouse, poultry barn, chick brooder, tool shed full of our power tools and farm equipment, packing facility, all our fence lines, the wells and power,” said Austin. “We literally lost everything.”
Austin and Melissa stayed for eight days with the fire burning around them. They described the roadblocks into the evacuation zone as a nightmare and said they were meeting friends to bring in bare necessities of food and supplies.
They said that during the days that ensued, the couple was in survival mode taking care of their animals as well as their neighbors stock who were unable to access their adjacent properties. They said they each worked more than 80 hours in the first five days, sleeping in shifts of four hours.
Austin and Melissa said they were particularly grateful for the community support over the following months, especially their neighbors. The Kunde family put them up after they lost their house and the Lelys are continuing to rent that house. Austin and Melissa tried to keep their animals on their home property, but after two weeks of hauling water for the animals, the Kunde family encourage the young couple to house their animals on the Kunde ranch.
A relative of the Lelys started a GoFundMe for the couple that raised more than $10,000.
Both Austin and Melissa agree they learned a lot through the recovery process.
They applied through grants with NRCS and FSA for fencing, erosion control, creating defensible space and more. They learned about many additional programs these organizations offered which they didn’t know about before the fires.
The last standing building on the Lelys’ property as crews continue to clear debris.
Austin and Melissa are positive about their business and what the future has in store for them.
“We are all all-in,” said Melissa. “All of this will go forward and be even stronger than before.”
Their landlords, who have a small vineyard and produce wine, also have tenants growing cannabis. They all see the three businesses working together to create a polyculture and agritourism hub.
“It will be easier to rebuild with a focus and direction,” said Melissa. “We’ll have the opportunity to build a functional flowing system and all work together.”
Melissa sees their business shifting slightly from last year. Where they participated in seven farmers’ markets per week in 2017, they are going to focus on a couple of the markets they felt worked better for their farm.
They plan to open an on-site farm stand and build a website where they can sell commodities online. They’re also planning on hosting events starting with a plant sale in the spring and pumpkin patch in the fall.
They’re passionate about educating their community, and they hope to share their message about eating locally as well as hosting seminars and workshops.
They plan to continue to grow, especially their egg production which they said there is a high demand for, but they also have plans to diversify. Additionally, the Lelys are planning to transition their row crops into more permanent raised beds.
“This year, we’re really excited to just be able to focus on farming,” said Melissa.
At the end of February, the couple still had no power or water to their farm, but they began to see progress in the clean-up of debris and everything began to happen quicker than they expected.
When asked how they got through the most difficult times, they both responded at once: “She’s a badass,” Austin said while Melissa said, “luckily I’ve got this guy by my side.”
“We have a passion for making this place happen and a strong vision for the farm,” said Melissa. “We’re trying to focus on the positives, the blessings and the awesomeness of the community.”
Through the recovery process, Austin and Melissa were both excited to see that people still value the service of agriculture. The couple said they are saddened to hear about other farmers who have chosen not to continue farming after the October wildfires, but they know it’s a difficult decision and said they couldn’t do it without the community support they have received.
You can donate to the GoFundMe for Austin and Melissa at gofundme.com/missys-homebusiness.
Sacramento, Calif., (March 15, 2018) – The UC Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Agricultural Issues Center has released two new studies on the estimated costs and returns of producing garbanzo beans, also known as chick peas, in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys.
Garbanzo beans mature in June and are harvested in July.
“Although acreage is relatively small, garbanzos are an important crop because California growers produce the large, cream-colored seed that’s used for the canning industry, often used for garnishes for salads,” said Rachael Long, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor serving Sacramento, Solano and Yolo counties.
The studies estimate the cost of producing garbanzo beans on 200 acres as part of a row crop rotation, using subsurface drip irrigation. A three-row bed tillage implement shallowly chisels, tills and reshapes the beds, avoiding disturbance of the buried drip tape left in place. Planting of seed treated for fungal and seedling diseases, Ascochyta rabiei, Rhizoctonia and Pythium, into residual soil moisture occurs in December. Seeding rates for the garbanzo beans are 85 pounds per acre.
Input and reviews were provided by UC ANR Cooperative Extension farm advisors and other agricultural associates. Assumptions used to identify current costs for the garbanzo bean crop, material inputs, cash and non-cash overhead. A ranging analysis table shows profits over a range of prices and yields. Other tables show the monthly cash costs, the costs and returns per acre, hourly equipment costs, and the whole farm annual equipment, investment and business overhead costs.
“The importance of these studies right now is that they are currently being used to help secure USDA crop insurance for garbanzo production, expected in 2020,” Long said.
The new studies are titled “Sample Costs to Produce Garbanzo Beans (Chick Peas), in the Sacramento and Northern San Joaquin Valleys – 2018” and “Sample Costs to Produce Garbanzo Beans (Chick Peas), in the Southern San Joaquin Valley – 2018.”
Both studies can be downloaded from the UC Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics website at http://coststudies.ucdavis.edu. Sample cost of production studies for many other commodities are also available at the website.
For additional information or an explanation of the calculations used in the studies, contact the Agricultural Issues Center at (530) 752-4651 or the local UCCE Farm Advisors; Sarah Light, selight@ucanr.edu, Rachael Long, rflong@ucanr.edu, Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, mmleinfeldermiles@ucanr.edu, or Nicholas E. Clark, neclark@ucanr.edu.
Fresno County Department of Agriculture Crop Report for the Month Ending Sunday, February 28, 2018
Fresno, Calif., (March 14, 2018) – Irrigated grain fields continued to grow well and some fields started to develop seed heads. Broadleaf herbicides were applied as needed. Dry-land barley, triticale, oats, and wheat struggled with lack of rain. Ground preparation in rice fields started.
Alfalfa started to grow but growth is slow. Alfalfa fields were treated for weeds. Garlic and onion fields continued to grow rapidly. Garbanzo bean fields were growing well. Growers tiled soil, shaped furrows, and replaced drip tape for upcoming spring crops. Ground for sod was being leveled and prepared for seeding.
Almond and stone fruit started to bloom last month. Bloom sprays were made to control diseases. The County was hit with a hard freeze and growers ran water to protect trees. The extent of damage will not be known for several weeks. In Sanger District, growers participating in the Mexico Stone Fruit Program started hanging pheromone traps for Oriental Fruit Moth on February 15. Grape vines continued to be pruned and tied. Herbicides were applied to vineyards and cover crops between rows were growing slowly from lack of rain. Many vineyards continued to be pushed out for planting of nut trees. Pistachio and walnut orchards were still being pruned. Almond export was slow. Almonds, pecans, pomegranates, prunes, raisins, and walnuts were exported to Algeria, Australia, Bahrain, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and Vietnam. Chilean and Peruvian table grapes were re-exported to Canada. Nectarine, peach and plum bud wood was exported to Australia.
Work continued on preparing fields for spring crops. Herbicides were applied to control weeds before planting. Carrots are in all stages of production around the County. Radicchio, fennel, parsley, and spinach were all growing well. Including mizuna, onion, and radish for seed production. Head, leaf, and Romaine lettuce field were growing fast. Asparagus fields were growing well. Blueberry buds were swelling and blooms could be seen at the end of the month. Blueberries and raspberries continued to arrive from Oregon for transplanting. Small growers setup and repaired their hoop houses/ greenhouses in preparation for early spring planting.
Citrus harvest was in full force around the County. With exports picking up towards the end of February. A hard freeze hit the County late in February, with Sanger reporting a few hours below 28 degrees. Will take a couple weeks to determine freeze damage. Plant growth regulators were applied to orchards to prevent fruit drop. Exclusion nets were placed around mandarins in preparation of citrus bloom. Mandarin orchards continued to be removed and replaced with higher value mandarin varieties. Gophers have been an issue in Huron district, eating orange and lemon roots causing trees to topple. Grapefruit, lemons, mandarins, oranges, and tangelos were exported to Australia, China, Dominican Republic, French Polynesia, Guatemala, Republic of Korea, Japan, New Zealand and the Philippines.
Bees have been busy pollinating in almond and stone fruit orchards. Cold windy conditions did not help bee activity. Cattle and sheep were grazing in the eastern foothills, but forage conditions were low with lack of rain. Sheep were also seen grazing in fallow fields. Ranchers were out branding new calves. Egg production was expected to increase with the longer days.
Fresno, Calif., (March 14, 2018) – About 5,000 children representing nearly 145 elementary schools from the San Joaquin Valley will participate in the 60th annual Peach Blossom Festival of Oral Interpretation on Thursday and Friday, March 8 and 9, in various locations on the Fresno State campus.
The festival, which attracts schools from Livingston to Delano, was created to help young people gain knowledge and appreciation of literature through oral interpretation and performance. The event also gives children an opportunity to visit a University campus.
The festival begins at 9:30 a.m. Thursday and at 10 a.m. Friday. Check-in will be held in the lobby of the John Wright Theatre in the Speech Arts building (only teachers can check in their students). A full schedule and a list of participating schools is available on the Peach Blossom Festival website.
Sacramento, Calif., (March 14, 2018) – The California State Fair Kaiser Permanente Farm does more than grow food; it grows knowledge and enriches the lives of area youth and even peaks the students’ interest to pursue careers in California’s number one industry: Agriculture. School tours at The Farm teach K-6th graders about California fresh produce at the 3.5 acre working farm. Schools from all over the region are welcome to tour the farm.
K-6 grade students get a unique, hands-on experience in a living classroom that shows them first-hand where their food comes from. Students will see actual crops including a functioning greenhouse. They will participate in five learning stations: Grow it- explore seeds; See it- see what the seeds turn into; Save it- the newest methods for growing plants; Plant it- plant seeds; and Taste it- taste the foods grown on The Farm.
The CA State Fair Farm grows over 90 varieties of fruits and vegetables all year long from cotton, kiwi, squash, eggplant, chili peppers, corn and melons to pumpkins. Nearly 4,000 students experience what it takes to plant, maintain and manage a farm during Spring/Fall Farm Tours. The California State Fair Farm is a working farm that produces tons of produce which is donated to the Sacramento Food Bank. In 2017, more than 16,000 pounds of produce was donated.
The California State Fair Kaiser Permanente Farm Tours are offered for six weeks in the spring and fall. The spring farm tours at Cal Expo are Monday thru Thursday starting April 9th and wrap up May 17th. The fall tours will begin on September 10th and will conclude October 18th. Schools are encouraged to book tours for both spring and fall now before all of the slots are taken.
There is a nominal fee of $7 per student for the tour. Included in the fee is a tour through the Forest Center, an area that features 40 native species of trees. Experts from the Forest Foundation allow the children to get close to nature while learning about the benefits of a healthy sustainable forest. Also during the farm tour, students can milk “Cali”, a mechanical cow donated by the California Milk Advisory Board!
For more information about The California State Fair Kaiser Permanente Farm School Tours and to schedule an interview with a classroom tour, contact:
Media Director, Darla Givens, 916-263-3108.
Pistachio growers just enjoyed gathering for the annual American Pistachio Growers Conference last week. Watch this conference wrap-up interview with APG Executive Director Richard Matoian as he shares the current State of the Pistachio Industry, both the successes, and some concerns for the industry moving forward. Read more about it in the coming issue of Pacific Nut Producer Magazine.
Enjoy our Ag video news? Be sure to let our sponsor Duarte Nursery know & thank them for their industry support!
Sacramento, Calif., (March 13, 2018) – One person can make a difference and sometimes we don’t have the time to say goodbye. It is with great sadness we say goodbye to our dear colleague and friend from the Netherlands, Mr. Ton Akkerman who passed away suddenly last month.
Secretary Ross with Dutch Counselor for Agriculture Ton Akkerman.
Ton was Dutch Counselor for Agriculture at the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Washington D.C. He was instrumental in our first Climate Smart Agriculture mission, which was to the Netherlands in 2015. This mission was important to further our understanding of how agriculture is adapting to climate change in other regions of the world. Ton sat beside the Netherlands Minister of Agriculture during our discussions and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, and he guided us through every stage of our visit in the Netherlands.
We remember Ton’s warm smile, his intellectual thinking, and how he made the delegation feel comfortable and welcome through every aspect of our trip. Since then he had continued to work with us closely to further our relationship.
Ton opened other key collaborations at the Dutch Consulate in San Francisco that we continue to develop very closely. He will be greatly missed but we know he has left us in good hands, and we will always remember him in the years to come as we continue our work to build our international collaboration. He certainly made a big difference in our lives.
Davis, Calif., (March 13, 2018) – Historically, keeping backyard chickens was a response to economic hardship — whether it was in the Depression or during wartime food rationing.
But a growing number of chickens today are roaming or are caged on small family farms and in backyards, as suburban and urban poultry gains more popularity among consumers. Many people prefer to raise their own food because they think it will be safer, fresher and more nutritious than that which was commercially raised. Yet, a new University of California, Davis, study suggests that local ordinances are not adequately addressing human and animal health when it comes to backyard poultry, and laws that do exist do not keep pace with those for commercial growers.
“Ironically, as people seek to take control over the way their food is grown, most ordinances fail to ensure basic health and welfare for birds and humans,” said Catherine Brinkley, assistant professor of community and regional development, in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. She is the primary author of the study.
What needs to happen, the author recommends, is that there be more laws that mandate vaccinations, manure management and general animal welfare in urban and suburban settings similar to policies and regulations imposed on commercial chicken ranches.
“Provisions governing animal slaughter and routine veterinary care are rare, presenting a concern for monitoring and intervening in public health crises,” the study says. “In addition, shelters anticipate higher poultry intakes, particularly as unwanted birds are turned loose to become strays.”
Researchers focused their study on 100 municipalities in Colorado, the only state to compile public data for animal shelter surrenders and other statistics. Compared with three other U.S. cities — Los Angeles, Miami and New York — Denver had the highest percentage of respondents in favor of allowing backyard poultry, 62.5 percent, and the lowest percentage of respondents who believed urban poultry would lead to more human disease, at 7.4 percent. Almost 42,000 households across the four cities were surveyed.
Almost all the laws governing poultry-keeping in Colorado were passed since 2000.
“More poultry ordinances have been passed or modified in Colorado in the last five years than in the previous hundred,” Brinkley said.
The most common guidelines for poultry ordinances, the researchers found, pertain to housing design, placement and the sex of birds — some municipalities ban roosters altogether, some do not, and still others permit one rooster per 12 hens, for example. But regulations pertaining to cleanliness, ventilation, and food and water requirements are often lacking. Ordinances governing the slaughter of backyard chickens occur in only half of municipalities in Colorado, and many are vague, researchers found.
Regulations pertaining to the chickens’ health and welfare were rare in the Colorado study, with only 2 percent of municipalities including poultry under animal cruelty and abuse regulations.
